Bella Rising
by Die Schreibfeder
Summary: When Bella decides she has had enough of waiting for Edward to make his decision, she takes matters into her own hands, with results she would never have imagined. ***Please review/critique! I am not a shrinking violet, it is appreciated!***
1. Surprises

Bella packed the clothes into the suitcase precisely, making sure every square inch of space was filled as she folded the garments into neat bundles. Edward sat bemused in her rocking chair, watching her.

"Where are you going? Jacksonville?"

Bella took a deep breath. She had been waiting for this question, the catalyst to set off the reaction that would determine whether this gamble would pay off. Her hands shook as she dropped her passport into her dingy backpack, and pulled the tickets out of the front pocket, holding them front-forward. She knew Edward could see the Alitalia logo, and the small print even from where he sat.

"You won't change me. I won't live like this. So I'm going to go to Italy. The Volturi want me, want whatever it is in my head. So I'm going to go join them. If Carlisle could handle it for a while, maybe I can."

Edward was on his feet in a movement too fast for Bella to see, his icy fingers in an unbreakable grip around her wrist, the hand holding the tickets.

"Bella, are you mad? Do you not realize that they will slaughter you? Last time, you came under the protection of someone they at least respected- Carlisle. You won't have that this time."

Bella's chin jerked up, her spine straightening. "I don't believe that. Aro wants us both; even one would be a coup for him."

Edward groaned, a sound deep in his chest. "They'll kill you."

Bella shook her head silently, and then spoke. "No, I'll be a vampire. I'll be like you, without the _burden_ of you having had to do it."

Edward's face changed, as if realizing that the steel in her soul was really not bending this time. "Fine, but you know, your blood will be wasted on animals like them. They can't appreciate what you have- that's how you'll die. They're greedy, grasping. They can't control themselves when they feed."

His lips dropped to her wrist, which he kissed, and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Surely such a pleasant thing should be appreciated. I'd be perfectly respectful of it, in taking it. I can't promise you won't feel a thing, but- it will be enjoyed."

His razor-sharp teeth gleamed suddenly, and Bella felt a chill run over her spine. Her mother would have used the phrase _a goose walked over my grave_. "I think I should take what is, after all, rightfully mine."

A small breeze fluttered the curtains at Bella's window and the room tilted, her heart racing, knowing Edward was hearing every bit of blood pumping in her veins. She felt a quick jerk as she lost her balance, and struggled to stay up right. Less than a second later, Edward was pinned against the wall silently, Alice's sharp glare cutting into his own.

"Edward. What the HELL was that?"

Edward stood against the bedroom wall, staring impassively at Alice. "Bella wants to die in the way we specialise in, it would seem, so I'm glad to assist her in that."

"_Edward!_ I saw you- and you should be glad that I was within range, and that I wasn't alone!"

Bella's eyes darted to her bedroom window. Outside in the giant tree that had stood there for who knew how many years, Jasper and Emmett perched on two worn limbs, and Bella started when she realized that their stances were not ones of waiting. They were tense, their bodies poised to hurtle into her bedroom had the need arose.

"Edward- you- you were going to!"

Edward snorted. "I would have never."

Bella's voice grew more shrill, and the two vampires in her tree slithered in the window. Jasper was behind her in a moment, and she could not help but feel calm. She glared at Edward, and she was shaking. Emmett had begun pacing the room, his huge form filling it and making it feel crowded. Bella distantly worried that his loud footfalls would attract Charlie's attention.

"Alice saw you doing it- and she wouldn't have seen it if you hadn't decided. Edward, I think you need to leave."

Jasper glanced at Emmett, and they were on either side of their brother, his arms clamped inside the vises of their hands.

Edward's face was stormy. "I can leave on my own, thank you."

As his lithe form disappeared out her window, Bella's knees gave. Emmett was closest, and in a graceful turn, took her shoulders in his hands and twisted his body so that she sat onto the bed. Jasper again began focusing on her, but the tears came despite her calming mood.

Alice's tiny face was irate, her golden eyes glowing dangerously. "That is the closest we have come to ever- Jazz, I need you to call a family council. Please go see Carlisle. And Emmett- please go get our fool brother. This is serious."


	2. Decisions

Carlisle stood, staring at his son, and to Edward his face rang with a weariness and a fear. Carlisle could not look tired, nor older, but Edward had been around him long enough to know his moods. Even without his special ability, Edward would have known this face- he had seen it in Bella's father's own eyes before, in a thousand other men's as he had waltzed through the decades.

Carlisle was disappointed in him.

"Edward," he began, and cut off, shaking his head. Rosalie sat, looking worried. Edward had expected a smugness, or anger. Instead, every face- save Alice's- roiled with a deep anxiety. Alice just stared at him, half-horrified and half-angry. She was replaying the scene in her head, with perfect recall. Edward swooping to Bella, his smile turning feral, and then the soft, almost inaudible sound of teeth tearing into the soft flesh of a human. He winced at the rest, wishing for once he could turn off his extra hearing and sight. But Alice, determined, kept looping it in her head, her tiny body wrapped into a tight knot on the couch, Jasper standing behind her, his eyes darting to Edward warily.

He could see Jasper's thoughts, too, and the military precision behind them. What to do if Edward DID do this. How to contain the damage. Before that, however, how to protect Bella. That stung Edward deeply- the idea of his brother, he who had the least control of them all- thinking he needed to protect the frail human girl from him.

He sat at the table. Carlisle was finding it easier to communicate with their thoughts, knowing Edward preferred these questions asked privately. There was no privacy outside their heads in the Cullen house, where everyone could hear the leaves swaying to the ground outside in the crisp fall air. School would be starting soon. Edward answered every volley with a quirk of an eyebrow or a miniscule nod, a slight shake of the head that the rest failed to notice as they concerned themselves with their worries over whether Edward had simply lost his mind. Carlisle understood to some degree what Edward had been thinking, but it was the solidity of the plan that concerned him.

At last, the intense interrogation session ended. Carlisle sat at the table, opposite Edward, and sank his head into his hands. He was intentionally keeping his mind blank, for all intents and purposes. This pained Edward, but he got the message. He rose, and suddenly the rest of the family moved, as if jerked awake by his movement. So lost in their thoughts and worries, a human would have mistaken them for statues, still as the grave and nearly as quiet.

A pang shot through Edward as he realized that this was all due to his own action, due to his determination regarding Bella. Like a string of bells, one disrupted had caused an emotional clamor in all of them. Then he was leaving, snagging his keys on the way out, and drove towards Seattle as if the devil were at his heels.

Carlisle listened carefully, waiting for the moment that he knew Edward was out of range both aurally and mentally. "Esme. Alice. Please go to the Swan house, and bring Bella here."


End file.
